There are two of the most iconic sculptures in Singapore, and visitors to Singapore are sure to visit them.
There is a sculpture of a merlion in Marina Bay, which is the totemic symbol of the Singapore nation and a symbol of the wisdom, courage and strength of the Singaporean people.
Once upon a time, Singapore was just a small fishing village. It is said that in the 14th century, a prince of the kingdom of Sri Buddha of Sumatra, with his wife and his retinue, came here to hunt, found a white beach, so he went to the island to visit, suddenly, saw a lion with a black head and a red body and white hair on the shore not far away, the prince thought this was an auspicious omen, and decided to develop this place. Hence the name "Lion City", (Singa pure), Singa means lion in Malay, and Pure means city, which is why people call Singapore the Lion City. The body and tail of the fish symbolize one of Singapore's older names, Temasek (meaning the town of the sea), which illustrates how Singapore has grown from a small fishing village to the prosperous and prosperous city it is today.
The merlion sculpture created by the famous Singapore sculptor Lin Langxin is a male lion, milky white, with a mighty mane on his head, heroic posture, standing tall, and the tail raised under the fish body jumps straight in the waves, soft and smart, which not only shows the characteristics of Singapore as an island country, but also gives people the strength to forge ahead.
The image of the Merlion has penetrated into all aspects of Singapore, when it comes to festive festivals, you can see the Merlion flags hanging high everywhere, the athletes on the sports field wearing Merlion costumes, the Merlion anime advertisements outside the mall, and the various Merlion souvenirs in the tourist shops, which are even more dazzling, keychains, bookmarks, thermometers, drinking glasses, handicrafts, etc., the list goes on.
Another sculpture to be mentioned here is a white statue of Sir Raffles standing next to the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore.
In the early years, Singapore was originally part of the Kingdom of Johor in Malaysia, but the British sent Stamford Brown to compete for maritime trade routes. Raffles explores a new maritime stronghold.
At the foot of the statue is the site where Sir Raffles landed in Singapore, a scholarly and gentle British knight looking into the distance against a backdrop of tall buildings. He laid the foundation for the creation of modern Singapore and has been given a special status as a "builder" in history.
Raffles was born in 1781 in the cabin of a ship from London to and from the West Indies. His father was a captain on a ship, and he grew up in a poor family, dropped out of school at the age of 14 and worked as a temporary worker for the British East India Company. However, this job changed him and even influenced the history of modern Southeast Asia.
Raffles, who was not satisfied with their school education, spent all their spare time on self-study. Eventually, he learned about Asia and his serious attitude towards his work, which was recognized by his boss and sent him to Penang Merchant House. Finally, he also held important positions such as Vice-Governor of Java of the British East India Company. He became an important decision-maker in British colonial policy in Asia.
Later, Sir Raffles discovered Singapore's strategic location on the crossroads of the Straits of Malacca, the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, and the South East Asian continent and islands, the Indian and Pacific Oceans. He did not wait for the approval of the British himself, intervened in the succession to the throne of the Kingdom of Johor, which ruled Singapore at the time, and installed the king, and then bought the island of Singapore from him at a very low price.
Raffles built Singapore into a free port with Singapore as the center of Asian trade, and announced that all goods would be allowed to be imported freely, and Singapore instantly became a prosperous city. Raffles set out to build Singapore into a real trading and commercial city, rectifying harbors, shipyards, warehouses, government agencies and police stations, etc., and in order to resolve conflicts between them and the local residents, Raffles set out different living areas according to different ethnicities. Such as Chinese residential areas, Indian residential areas, European residential areas, etc. Sir Raffles was regarded as a prominent figure in the British colonial bureaucracy at the time, and was highly regarded as a "fighter for the Enlightenment".
With the change of history, Singapore has gone through a long process of development, and on August 9, 1965, it declared independence and established the Republic of Singapore.
May 11, 2024
Introduction to Jinong
Jinong, pen name Qu Chen, born in Xi'an in 1953, graduated from high school in 1970, went to Ziyang, Shaanxi Province to participate in the construction of the Xiangyu Railway, and was assigned to the third company of the students of the Sixth Regiment of the Second Division of the Railway Corps, and was assigned to the Shaanxi Provincial Long-distance Telecommunications Line Bureau after exiting, and was transferred to the Xi'an Municipal Price Bureau in 1989, and successively served as the section chief, deputy director and director of the Price Reporting Center of the Price Inspection Bureau. During this period, he was awarded the title of Top Ten People's Servants, Municipal Model Worker and Outstanding Party Member of Xi'an by the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, and retired in 2013.
I love writing and photography, and many of my essays have been published in "Chang'an Lookout", "Qinchuan Culture", "Old Things in Xi'an" and online magazines, and many of my photographic works have won awards at film festivals.
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